The originally intended name for th album was An American Opera. This later became Masterpeace and finally Odessa.[4]

Colin recalls about the country influence on Odessa. "It was my idea that we do that sort of thing, and Maurice is the one who will take more time out to listen to what I have to say, although within the group, the okay has to come from Barry". Their manager Robert Stigwood says, "Barry is the Bee Gees coordinator, I used the word advisedly, as there is no leader of the group as such. He has a tremendous feel for soul music a la his composing work for The Marbles, but he is also a fantastic solo singer in his own right".[5]

The first song recorded for the album was "I Laugh in Your Face" on 12 July 1968, the same day the group recorded "I've Gotta Get a Message to You" (released from the American version of the group's fifth album Idea). After recording eight songs for the album, guitarist Vince Melouney left the group amicably and joined the supergroup Fanny Adams, wanting to pursue a more bluesy direction as Melouney explained: "I was on three tracks, "Marley Purt Drive", "Whisper Whisper" and one more that I can't remember".[6]

Prior to release there were disagreements over which song was to be released as a single when the Robin led "Lamplight" lost out to "First of May" a Barry solo vocal. This led to Robin Gibb leaving the group in early 1969,[7] though he would rejoin the group in August 1970.

A reel tape of mono mixes dated 24 November 1968 has "Odessa (City on the Black Sea)", "First of May" and "Melody Fair" called a "rough mix with orchestra". Therefore about as soon as they returned to the studio, they were with Bill Shepherd arranging and conducting orchestral tracks to complete the album. This puts the re-make of "First of May" early in the November sessions, yet the song would be the last Bee Gees band session for the album. However, after recording "First of May", the instrumental tracks, "Seven Seas Symphony", "With All Nations" and "The British Opera" were recorded by Bill Shepherd. Also done somewhere around here are the final vocals for the New York songs and the added organ part for "Edison".[8]

Odessa was initially released on Atco Records in a red flocked cover with a gold lettering to the group's name and label symbol stamped in gold on the front and nothing but the flocking on the back. The gatefold has a large dotted image of people leaving a ship in a lifeboat. There are no photographs of the group and they are not named except as to all songs being written by B, R & M Gibb. Due to the high cost of production, as well as allergic reactions among workers during assembly, this design was discontinued.[2] as Barry explained:

“

Everything got out of hand and we didn't know which way we were heading. We'd never really finished the album. It was our own production and we were very proud of it, but it all turned out different. It marked a period of breaking up and we weren't talking to each other, so we weren't in the studio together half the time and weren't as friendly toward each other. The recording took three or four months which was a long time in those days. Bee Gees 1st was done in a month. It would be nice to re-master the album once and as a bonus maybe do a live version of some of the songs.[4]

”

Maurice describes Odessa: "There's all sorts of different areas on it. It went up and down in places, but a lot of people regard it as our Sgt. Pepper".[12]

It was later reissued in 1976 as an edited single-disc album with a plain red cover on RSO Records. The 1976 single LP reissue deleted tracks 3, 5, 7–9, 12, and 17. Some early CD and cassette editions also omitted the track "With All Nations (International Anthem)". On 13th January 2009 Rhino released a deluxe remaster of the album containing three discs containing, respectively, the album in stereo, the album in mono and selected rarities. The third disc, entitled Sketches for Odessa featured demos of the songs plus a vocal take of With All Nations (International Anthem) and the previously unissued tracks Nobody's Someone and Pity. This edition restored the red flocking originally found on the LP.

In early March 1969, the group performed "First of May" (they also performed "I Started a Joke") on Top of the Pops and The Tom Jones Show. These performances were the last to feature Robin before he decided to leave the band.[4] Robin told Mojo magazine in 2003 about his departure from the band after the release of Odessa saying "We had egos".[13] In July 1969, "Marley Purt Drive" was released as a single, backed with "Melody Fair" only in South America.[14]

Maurice described this album as 'heavy'. "People thought it was an in-depth album", he recalled, "like, 'What do they mean by those lyrics?' and 'What's this all about?' There's all sorts of different areas on it. It went up and down in places, but a lot of people regard it as our Sgt. Pepper. To us, I don't think it was the best album we made, but the main title 'Odessa' I loved". Barry responded to Maurice saying, "I guess I have strong personal feelings about it because it was a time when the group was splitting up".[5]

On 13 January 2009, Reprise Records released a 3-CD set of Odessa, complete with remastered stereo and mono version of all 17 tracks, plus a bonus third disc with demos, alternate version, and three unreleased tracks. To date, Odessa was the album to receive the deluxe remaster treatment with extensive sleevenotes, and the status of the re-release program is unknown.